[5] At the 2005 general election, Madders stood as the Labour candidate in Tatton, coming second with 23.5% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP George Osborne.

[8][9] In September 2015, Madders was appointed Shadow Minister for Secondary Care, Workforce and Patient Health.

[11] He supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election.

[13] Madders was appointed the Shadow Minister for Business, Employment Rights and Levelling Up in July 2018, before also resigning this post in March 2019.

[14][15] In April 2020, Madders was re-appointed as the Shadow Minister for Secondary Care, Workforce and Patient Health by the new Labour leader Keir Starmer.